Chapter 130: Alex’s Little Secret

After a simple celebratory lunch, Liu Heming returned to the ranch and then started researching on his laptop. He really needed to find a proper way to deal with the manure in his ranch. Otherwise, it would become a problem later.

After looking into it carefully, he realized there was actually a lot to learn about this.

If it were an ordinary ranch, a simple solution would be enough. But for him, if he wanted the agricultural products from his ranch in the future to have the USDA label, he had to do clean processing. The technical requirements for that were a bit high.

What did clean processing mean? It meant that if you built an organic fertilizer factory, you also needed to build enclosed fermentation tanks. Only after the manure was fermented could it be mixed with other additives to produce organic fertilizer.

However, from a long-term perspective, the best setup would be to build a biogas digester on the ranch, along with a supporting fertilizer processing plant and a small power plant.

That way, energy use could be maximized, without any waste. If the breeding scale was large enough and there were sufficient raw materials, not only could it be self-sufficient, but excess electricity could also be sold in the future.

In the United States, many large farms were already using this technology. They didn’t just have high requirements for fertilizer; even the vehicles on their farms ran on natural gas. They also handled everything in-house. By treating the biogas to increase methane concentration and remove impurities, it could be used directly.

Of course, this kind of investment would be larger. It was a whole system project and required professional energy companies to build it. Even though it would take a lot of money, he was really looking forward to having a complete set of equipment like this.

His ranch was just starting out, and it would definitely get better and better in the future. How could a ranch at that stage not have some high-end equipment? The environment on the ranch was also very important.

For now, his ranch could still manage. If things really got difficult, he could just move the manure processing area and weld oil drums into manure barrels.

He looked again, a bit nostalgically, at pictures of other ranches. They had clear waters and green mountains, with herds of cattle and horses. Looking at his own ranch now, even though it had mountains, water, and a forest, it was far from comparing to others. He still had to work hard.

After closing the webpage, he looked out the window. The sun had already tilted quite a bit. Without realizing it, a long time had passed. He stood up and stretched, and then he noticed a key question.

Why was Alex, the little one who usually stuck to him, so quiet today?

Liu Heming went downstairs. He originally wanted to ask Sasha, but seeing her current state, he thought it was better not to approach her.

“Alex is playing house with the bear cubs. This morning, she carried a small basket and picked some tomatoes and cucumbers. She’s probably at the warehouse now, keeping Charming Girl company.” Just as Liu Heming turned away, Sasha spoke.

“Uh… thank you.” Liu Heming turned back and said, somewhat awkwardly.

He didn’t know why, but Sasha now gave him a feeling like an ex-girlfriend. Being around her was nowhere near as comfortable as before.

Feeling a bit flustered, he walked outside. He wondered to himself why he was feeling so guilty. Shaking his head, he headed straight for the warehouse. As he got closer, he slowed his steps, wanting to give his daughter a little surprise.

“Bear Cub, why won’t it eat?” Just as he reached the door, Alex’s voice came through. “Hey, what did Dad feed you when he found you? These tomatoes and cucumbers are so delicious.”

Liu Heming stopped in his tracks. Had his daughter found some animal, or was she feeding tomatoes to her dolls?

Listening carefully, it seemed like the bear cubs were making some noises in their throats. They were responding to his daughter. It looked like the little one was having a great time playing house with the bear cubs.

“Charming Girl, do you know?” Alex’s voice came again.

Charming Girl snorted, which counted as a response to the little one.

Standing at the door, Liu Heming found it quite amusing. His daughter was having so much fun playing with a group of small animals. This was the charm of childhood—even playing house felt so real to her.

He hadn’t seen his daughter for most of the day and missed her a little. He made a slight noise at the door, just so he wouldn’t startle her, then lingered for a moment before finally walking into the warehouse.

Charming Girl was eating tomatoes in her usual spot. The two bear cubs were sitting side by side, facing his direction, each munching on a cucumber. His daughter’s little face and hands were a bit dirty, and there were tomato leaves stuck to her clothes. She must have gotten them while picking the tomatoes herself.

“Dad.”

When she saw Liu Heming, a look of surprise flashed across her little face. She quickly stood up from the ground and was about to run toward him, but then she plopped back down.

Liu Heming had sharp eyes. The moment she stood up, he noticed there seemed to be a furry little thing behind her. He had been mistaken earlier—his daughter really had found a small animal.

Seeing how carefully his daughter was protecting it, Liu Heming pretended not to have seen. He sat down beside his daughter and took a quick peek as he did. It looked like three or four furry little things, probably little kittens.

He felt relieved. As long as they weren’t dangerous animals, it was fine. His daughter was still young and didn’t have much ability to tell the difference.

No wonder the bear cubs and his daughter were sitting facing outward when he came in—it was to keep him from seeing the little ones behind them.

Alex seemed a little conflicted. She glanced at Liu Heming, then at the bear cubs. After hesitating for more than half a minute, she grabbed Liu Heming’s arm and started shaking it.

“What’s the matter?” Liu Heming asked, pretending not to know.

“Dad, I found some little kittens. But they won’t eat the tomatoes or cucumbers I gave them.” The little one said pitifully.

“Can Dad take a look?” Liu Heming asked.

“Mm-hmm, they’re right here. The bear cubs found them, and I picked them up.” The little one nodded happily, eager to take credit.

Liu Heming finally got a chance to see the kittens his daughter had picked up. There were four of them, with patterns on their fur. He didn’t know what breed they were. But they were much better off than the bear cubs had been back then. They were chubby and looked cute with their round heads and big eyes, staring right at him. Only their little legs were a bit short.

“You guys also ran into a careless mom. When we go back, I’ll make you some minced chicken to eat.” Liu Heming said as he patted one of the kittens.

The kitten was still very cautious. After being touched, it grabbed his hand with its little paws and bit down hard with its tiny teeth.